I have never experience this in my life! Just to let you guys know my hair is just a few inches below armpit length and I'm trying to grow my hair longer. I got my relaxer on Dec.22 looking forward for my hair passing my bra strap and thick luscious hair but when she finish my hair I was HIGHLY disappointed due to the fact my hair looked dry, thin, and kind of short... During the weeks before I had the relaxer I didn't do anything to my hair I always used flexi rods to curl my hair so my hair wouldnt look wild but it ended up looking that way anyways lol I was scarred to break my hair by combing it so I just used the flexi rods. I combed my hair before I got my relaxer and alot of hair did break off I must admit. Can u guys help me I dont understand what is going on.

I haven't really been following a regimen because I figured if I leave it alone and use fleix rods and my cantu- leave in everything would be fine.. guess not

And also before my relaxer of Dec. 22 my hair was very lengthy thick and luscious now I feel like I kind of have medium length hair which for me is short :S

So lets begin:You really asked and answered your own question, because you said you combed your DRY hair and a lot of hair broke off and then you continue to answer your own question by saying you have no regimen. Seems like your hair is dry and not properly moisturized.

So do you want to know how to prevent breakage? How to start a regimen? What kind of relaxer do you use? What's is your stylists regimen when applying a relaxer?

Also, if you take pictures you will be able to better document your growth.

So lets begin:You really asked and answered your own question, because you said you combed your DRY hair and a lot of hair broke off and then you continue to answer your own question by saying you have no regimen. Seems like your hair is dry and not properly moisturized.

So do you want to know how to prevent breakage? How to start a regimen? What kind of relaxer do you use? What's is your stylists regimen when applying a relaxer?

Also, if you take pictures you will be able to better document your growth.

Thank u for responding I thought BHM was purposely giving me the cold shoulders I didnt know if u guys thought my thread was ridiculous but I'm serious.... let me start by asking can hair breakage make ur hair appear thinner and shorter? Because I had a friend told me when the ends of ur hair breaks it gets shorter to me I thought that was ridiculous because I know the hair just simply stays the same length . Yes I do want to know how to prevent breakage, I thought I did know how to but my problem is finding a good hair moisturizer I use cantu-leave in which for me is to cakey and it isnt really watery to make and leaves a build up that looks like dandruff. I just start using BB Oil Moisturizer yesterday because of the ingredients. It's hard to find a good hair moisturizer that I like especially since the main ingredient is mineral oil and petroleum is it really a big deal to avoid those kind of products or is it okay? I've avoided them so yeah. And yes I want to start following a hair regimen thats simple and not complex. My hair dresser using sensitive scalp affirmative hair relaxer. When u say my stylists regimen when applying my relaxer Im not sure what u mean, but she just simply parts it in four (my hair is usually VERY tangely since I stretch my relaxer and don't comb it because im scared of it) she brutally combs my lion hair and applies the relaxer twice take me to the sink and wash the back first and then the front. My hair salon work on ppl hair at the same time so sometimes my hair from a relaxer looks silky sometimes it looks frizzy.

The cold shoulder? Because you weren't answered in fifteen minutes? Like darlinnic said this isn't our job.

As to your hair, yes when it breaks of from the bottom it will get shorter. Quite honestly you need to take better care of your hair, you've been told multiple times what you need for a complete regimen for hair growth and thickness. For products, try using a spritz bottle of water first then follow up with a water based moisturizer like Kid Orgranics Hair Lotion, then seal with a light/heavy oil, carrot oil [light] or castor oil [heavy]. Breakage is caused [in most cases] because the hair isn't moisturized.

Do you do strengthening treatments a day for two before the relaxer? This fortifies the hair and makes the make shiny and strong after the relaxer. Also tell your stylist to base your scalp before applying the relaxer, and make sure she's only applying it to the new growth not the entire hair.

The cold shoulder? Because you weren't answered in fifteen minutes? Like darlinnic said this isn't our job.

As to your hair, yes when it breaks of from the bottom it will get shorter. Quite honestly you need to take better care of your hair, you've been told multiple times what you need for a complete regimen for hair growth and thickness. For products, try using a spritz bottle of water first then follow up with a water based moisturizer like Kid Orgranics Hair Lotion, then seal with a light/heavy oil, carrot oil [light] or castor oil [heavy]. Breakage is caused [in most cases] because the hair isn't moisturized.

Do you do strengthening treatments a day for two before the relaxer? This fortifies the hair and makes the make shiny and strong after the relaxer. Also tell your stylist to base your scalp before applying the relaxer, and make sure she's only applying it to the new growth not the entire hair.

^ lol I'm a little dramatic so I've been told... I didn't know that it gets shorter because I've never experience this before. When u say a spritzer bottle (which I have) I can moisturize my hair by spraying it w/ water? No I do not use any strengthening treatments a day or two before my relaxers. When u say treatment u mean like deep conditioning it? I have a protein treatment the silicone mix pearl extract the Dominican products. I go to a Dominican hair salon so there really not into hair care and advising ppl on what to do but I do have a little knowledge because of this website.

^ Oh and heck no she don't put the relaxer on my whole hair my mother always told me that u only do that when u have virgin hair but they do put at least 2-3 inches of relaxer from my roots meaning she passes over my new growth

i don't have a relaxer but maybe i can help. i had one a long time ago, and in college i primarily used heat on my hair, so i can relate to dry hair that breaks.

what one of the commenters said, i think the immediate cause of why your hair broke somewhat suddenly was because of you detangling your hair while dry, but the inherent issue to your problem is simply that your hair is unhealthy. Unhealthy hair is weak hair, and weak hair cannot stand up to manipulation. so even though normally your response (not combing it and trying to minimize handling by resorting to just flexirodding it) might have worked and done wonders on hair that was actually healthy, hypothetically, on your hair it wouldn't make a difference because, as you experienced, by the time you did get around to handling it it was not strong enough to bear the dry combing.

my suggestion is that if you stylist didn't already trim your hair, go for a trim or do it yourself, using a good set of hair cutting shears. cut off to right above where the damage is, or according to about the length estimate of the broken hairs you normally see. broken hairs, if you amount enough of them in a relatively short amount of time, can negate length manifestation if your hair breaks off at a faster rate than it grows from your scalp. hence your hair appearing shorter, rather than merely staying the same length. neither is a favorable outcome, and must be managed via appropriate hair combing techniques.

you can't reverse the damage but you can lessen some of the effects by cutting off as much of it as you can and starting over with sounder hair care. since you're relaxed, this will include utilizing a protein treatment (such as aphogee) as often as the directions indicate. it's been a long time since i used aphogee, so i don't remember the specifics, but aphogee is a protein treatment designed for badly damaged hair. which if your hair has broken to the degree to which you've described, your hair qualifies for the treatment.

if you feel uncomfortable doing it yourself, then your stylist should know what it is or be able to recommend a similar treatment. i'm surprised she didn't mention it already, given the state of your hair.

the next thing to do is make sure you're moisturizing your hair as often as your hair needs it. with each handling, at the least, but if you style your hair daily then you should moisturize it daily to prevent breakage. your hair is most likely dry. and therefore requires a moisturizing treatment, which you can do with each wash to restore the moisture that the relaxing process stripped from your hair.

you were on the right track with the flexi rods so once you've cut the damage and starting implementing protein and moisture treatments to re-strengthen your hair, the next step is to minimize handling (low manip. and choosing of proper, protective styles to that end, such as buns and updos...and even flexi rods, perhaps.) styles that you can keep in for at least about 4-5 days but ideally longer, until your hair gets back on the right track.

hair that is healthy should not easily break. ideally you should strive to see no more than about 10-15 broken hairs per detangle session and no more than about 5 per styling session, given that your hair is relaxed.

also, this is a given, but curb all direct heat use. using flat irons wll surely make your hair's health worse. keep usin the flexi rods, and when you want a more straight look, try a roller set that you saran wrap. they have tuturials of youtube, esp. Sista with Real Hair on YT. she only uses heat once a month and always wears her hair straightened. she uses roller sets and saran wraps to style.

good luck, and let us know how it goes! i think most ppl on BHM only check the forum about once a week to every two weeks, while others like myself who may check it once a day (because i have no life lol jk i am a full time senior who graduates next semester, a wife and mother and i work full time, but i get hardly no sleep because i'm an insomniac) primarily lurk. sometimes it takes a few days for people to get around to seeing posts. usually when i post, i don't really check for a few days for responses. and then too, if a thread isn't viewed enough, it'll get lost in the abyss. that's happened to a post of mine- couldn't find it anymore. it has to be resurrected through viewership. it's daunting, but...eh.

Thank you so much littleladybug for your insightful information. During my hair journey I wouldn't really call it a "real" hair journey because at first when I came on this website on in 2010 I thought I learned everything I needed and stop coming to BHM but as I was saying I use to be serious about moisturizing my hair daily and sealing the ends and what not then when I saw my hair growing I was like wow. I have this bra where I marked when I first started my journey to present I only grew about 3 inches I would say through trials and errors from 2011-2012. I figured my hair will just get longer on its own I don't need to do much. Sometimes when I go to the hair salon it would stay the same length sometimes it'll get longer but I'm tired of just hopping. I did trim my hair in August of 2012 I think it was August 8th to be exact. Which made my hair look lengthy which I was shock cause I didnt want to trim my ends because I thought my hair would look shorter which it did the opposite it made it look longer weird but true and very thick. But now my ends are thin again but I saw a youtube video of these two twin girls and they said don't trim your hair often only like 2-3 times a year so I wasn't sure to do it. But I just need to stay motivated and not get lazy I've already starting taking of my hair my moisturizing it and sealing my ends with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and braiding my hair in four sections and sleeping w/ my scarf, I got lazy w/ using my scarf but I see how it saves my hair though all that tossing and turning I do I could imagine how detrimental to my hair :S

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